Last Frontier News

There were less than 10 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Alaska during the week ending Dec. 25, a decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 18 deaths in the state. Less than 55.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, less than 55.6 percent were from cancer and less than 55.6 percent were from COVID-19.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	< 10
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	< 10	11
Heart disease	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	0	< 10